The present invention is related to fuel emulsions. In one embodiment, the present invention provides a stable fuel emulsion of water/coal and oil, and in another embodiment a stable fuel emulsion of essentially only water and oil. The present invention further provides methods for producing each of these stabilized fuel emulsions.
A water/coal and oil fuel is described in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,941,552, issued on Mar. 2, 1976, as well as is a system for rendering the emulsion stable. A water/oil fuel is described in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,749,318 issued on July 31, 1973. In each of these patents, and as is generally recognized, there is a need for the fuel to be rendered stable, i.e., to stabilize the emulsion so that it may be transported, stored and burned efficiently. The usual technique to achieve this end is to add to the components of the emulsion one or more surfactants such as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,210,168 issued Oct. 5, 1965 to Arnold J. Morway. The problem is that these surfactants are relatively expensive and detract from, rather than add to the calorific value of the fuels. The present invention provides fuel emulsions which are stable and which do not include surfactants.